The Girl with Healing Hands
by MooCowsRCool
Summary: Analise has always had a talent with the field of medicine. The only person that knows is her brother, Shane. When the letter comes in the mail, she takes it as an opportunity to get away from her abusive parents and start a new life. Could she learn to love Prince Ryan or live with the abuse of her parents when she is sent home?
1. Chapter 1

I jolt awake to the sound of a whip crack. I shake, curl into a ball, and hope it would just go away.

 _What did he find this time? A paintbrush or pastels?_

This has been a occurrence almost every night. My father hopes to whip him into shape, so that he would follow my father's dream of being a history professor. But frankly I could think otherwise. My theory is that he enjoys the pain of others, but I could never say anything like that about my father. He would then try to hurt me too, so I just keep my thoughts to myself.

One last whip crack then I hear father's feet storm into his room.

 _One, two, three, four, five seconds._

I get up and grab the little, makeshift first aid kit that I always take with me. Thanks to all the packages we receive of my father's medication, I have been able to slowly steal supplies and fit them in my old lunch box. Someday I wish I could let anyone but my brother know about my interest in medicine. That's a conflict that can wait till another time. I slowly creep one room over to Shane's room. Since this isn't a rare occasion, I've learned all of the boards that creak and groan when stepped on. I slowly crack the door open and have to hold back my shock. The beatings are progressively worse each time, opening the wounds that were close to healing.

 _We get so close every time…_

Shane looks up from the wood floor and sighs with relief. I carefully turn him on his stomach and begin cleaning all of the gash marks from all of the recent beatings.

"What was it this time?" I whisper

"I was just doodling on my history homework when he came in. He completely exploded"

"Maybe you should try to conceal it more?" I suggested

"At least you don't have to get whipped every time you come close to medicine or medical books. Let's just stop talking about it." He snapped

I rub ointment all over his back and finish in silence. I help him stand and walk over to his bed. He then looks over at me and says jokingly "You're going to sign up for The Selection, right?"

"I don't know. Wait, how did you know I got a letter?"

He smiles mischievously, "Don't think that I'm not watching out for you. I moved it from the mail before Mother and Father saw it."

I hug him and slowly creep through the door back to my room. I lay down on my old mattress and stare at the ceiling.

 _What am I going to do?_


	2. Chapter 2

I wake up to the smell of bacon and eggs.

 _Let's hope that father has gone to work. Please?_

I get up and put on my favorite pair of pants and shirt. I have decided to enter into The Selection so I can get away from this life and move on, even if I have to leave Shane. Maybe he can run away, right? He will be turning eighteen this year and I can give him some of the compensation money.

 _First things first, I need to fill out this paper and submit it._

I head into the kitchen and act as helpful as possible. During breakfast I start the talking and comment about how great father's work is. Right before we get up to put away the dishes, father grabs my hand and looks me in the eyes.

"What do you want?" he says flatly

"Um, what do you mean?" I act as innocently as possible, but nothing gets past him.

"Don't act Naïve. You want something."

"I just want to go out this afternoon. Just to the library and some shops" _Buy it, come on._

"Alright. Be back by six."

"Thank you father"

I help wash the dishes and clean the table. Then I hurry over to my room to fill out the application. I don't want my parents to know about me leaving so I put down the address of my only friend, Karla. I'm sure she would understand, plus her parents are the best people in the world. I can even bring my stuff to her house and my parents won't know until the night of the farewell ceremony.

 _This just might work, right?_

I pack up my first aid kit, clothes, and some extra food. Most of my stuff fits in my backpack, even though we are in the third caste now doesn't mean that we always were. Mother married up here because she was in love.

 _Sure, love, sometimes I don't believe that exists in the York family._

Mother used to be known all around for her voice and piano skills. After she got married she stopped singing and we never bought a piano. After the first marriage, I didn't think it could get any worse than it already was. She was done with the complications associated with the marriage that she gave in. Then it got worse when she met the father we have now. The rest is just a nightmare that I never want to think about.

 _Stop dwelling on that stuff. I need to start leaving._

I start walking towards the front door when Shane comes up to me and shoves something into my bag. Of course he knows that he isn't going to see me again for a while, he can always tell. I walk out the door like nothing had happened and start walking down the road. Just for a second I let myself look back.

 _I hope I never see that place again._


	3. Chapter 3

I feel so free of my old life, I will never go back there again. This is the beginning of something great, I'm sure of it.

 _You're not even at the town square, stop thinking you're free of them._

Finally I can see the busy people in the town square. Thanks to the big billboard, I know exactly where I need to go. Luckily I am early and get to be seventh in line. As I look around, I am completely under dressed. Almost all of the girls have dresses and makeup on. Oh well, I just hope that we are picked by what's on the inside.

"Next, please."

I guess it's my turn. They first take my application and look for any imperfections, stamp my finger, and take my picture.

"Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor" one lady in the back says. *wink*

 _That was weird, let's hope all these people aren't that creepy._

I start quickly walking away from the crowd when someone starts yelling my name. I would know that voice anywhere.

"Karla!?" I yell

"Who else would it be Ana?" Karla laughs

"Thank goodness. I have something I want to ask you."

"You can ask me anything, so what's up?"

"Can I stay at your house until they pick the names for The Selection?" I ask

"I'm sure it would be fine with my parents, why?"

"Nobody must know this but, I entered."

Karla looked shocked, "That's not normal for you to want to marry a Prince. I'm sure you have your reasons, so don't tell me anything else. I support you 100%."

 _Karla is the best person ever!_

I hug her and we head back to her house. Sometimes I forget how beautiful her neighborhood is, with the flowers lining the sidewalks and the nice green grass. While I'm still in awe, we walk through the door to the sweet aroma of cookies.

 _I wish my life was like this. Stop, I don't need jealousy at this moment._

"Hello Analise. Are you going to be spending the afternoon over here?" Mrs. Fray says as the buzzer on the oven goes off.

"If it's ok with you?" I ask

"It's no problem. We can even watch the broadcast in an hour about Prince Ryan's Selection." she says excitedly.

Me and Karla wave as we go into her room. The time flies by with us eating cookies and having a great time together. Before we knew it, the broadcast comes on. We all curl up on the couch with hot chocolate and the remaining cookies, waiting for them to select the lucky young women to be put through The Selection. I zone out and go into my thoughts throughout the talks by King Eric, Queen Sarah, and Prince Ryan. It seems that Karla notices this and elbows me when Prince Ryan reaches his hand into the bowl for our caste. I hold my breath as he picks one of the slips of paper. He flips it open and gives it to one of the TV announcers.

"Analise York from caste three!" he says excitedly

My picture shows up on the screen and I cannot believe I was picked. I didn't even realize I wasn't breathing until Karla hugs me. That knocks me out of disbelief and I start crying.

 _I was picked! I am free from everyone. Keep moving Ana and you can get through anything._


	4. Chapter 4

Last thing I remember, from all the excitement, is falling asleep on the Fray's couch. I prop myself up on my elbows and stare off into the distance.

 _I still cannot believe what happened last night. Ouch! Was that just a pillow?_

"Wake up sleepy head." Karla yells

"What was that for?" I glare at her.

"You need to get ready. The guards come to pick you up in an hour." Mrs. Fray interjects.

"Alright, I'm getting up." I groan. It doesn't take very long for me to get ready since everything I have is in the backpack I brought with me. The Frays make breakfast with some of my help (I cannot cook). All I do is set the table and vacuum because why not? Right after we finish, there comes a knock at the door. I assume it's the guards and open it.

"I need you to win The Selection for me." Shane quickly says

"What? Shane why are you here?" I was not ready for him to come.

"That doesn't matter. I have to go. Nobody can see what's inside of the package I gave you, open it when you get to the castle." And with those last words he ran down the street and vanished.

 _Well that was a little bit shocking. He must be in trouble, I've got to help him._

I close the door and sit down when another knock comes, "Oh, come on." I groan. I reluctantly open the door and this time it was the castle guards. "Are you Miss Analise York?" one of them said.

"Yep, that's me" I reply

"We have come to get you for the leaving ceremony. Pack your bags and we will wait for you here." The head of the group says.

"I've them right here" I say as I grab my backpack.

"I can take that" The blonde says.

I run back inside and promise to Karla that I would write to her each week. Thank goodness I didn't cry because that would have been embarrassing in front of the castle guards. We head out the door as I wave to the Fray family.

 _I hope I get to see them again, but first I've got to get through this leaving ceremony._

My parents never watch the broadcasts, even if it is a requirement of our citizenship. Come to think of it, they were never too fond of the monarchy. That's what I have going for me, if they didn't watch the broadcast then they wouldn't know I got picked. My family doesn't have any friends either, so I can get away in time. Without them knowing what hit them.

 _Let's hope nobody came to the ceremony, but that would never happen._

We pulled up next to the stage in the middle of the town square. Literally everyone was there! I guess once you're picked everybody wants to be your friend. I'm pushed up on the stage and I walk over to the announcer. "Analise York, everybody!" he shouts into the microphone. I here screams and clapping, I really am famous now.

"We would like to present you with this bracelet to remember where you came from." The announcer says to me. Then the town craftsmen walk over with this small blue box. I pick it up and open it to find this nicely woven, leather bracelet on the inside. All along the leather are multicolored beads of many varieties woven into the bracelet. One of the craftsmen walk over, pick up the bracelet, and put it on my wrist. It fits perfectly! I nod a thanks to him and he backs into where he was before.

"We are going to be rooting for you throughout The Selection and hope for you to be our next ruler of Illea!" and with those last sayings from the announcer, I am lead into the limo on the side of the stage.

 _I would have never thought the people of this town to be kind._

Before I know it I am escorted to a plane filled with my competition. Everyone scans me when I enter, apparently they don't deem me as competition because of my appearance. I'll show all of them that I can measure up to any of them, any day. I walk over and sit down by the skinny brunette in the back. She looks up at me and smiles when I next to her. She must be from one of the poorer castes by the way she acts, so I decide to say hello first. "Hi, I'm Ana. What's your name?"

"Courtney from six" she replies shyly.

"I like your skirt. Is it handmade?" I say trying to start conversation.

"Yeah. My mother made it before she passed away. She said that it would always give me luck, that's why I wore it today. So I can make friends and impress the Prince." Courtney explained.

"Wow, I wish my mother knew how to sew."

"Aren't you from three? Why couldn't your parents buy you any variety of skirts?"

"Just because I am in a wealthier caste doesn't mean my parents care about me." I snip back.

Courtney looked at me with a sad expression and that ended our conversation.

 _So much for making friends. Calm down Ana!_

"Everyone take a seat and fasten your seatbelts as we begin our decent into the castle courtyard" the pilot instructs. Everyone obeys the orders and we all look out our windows in awe as we descend into the castle grounds.


	5. Chapter 5

My stomach lurches as we descend, making me want to curl up in a ball. I resist the urge because it would show weakness to the others. I know how girl competition works, someone is targeted and taken down. Especially in the situation where royalty is at stake, I cannot come off as weak. We jolt as we hit the ground and all fifteen girls, including me, are ushered out of the aircraft. We are greeted with flashing lights and yells. After a while my eyes adjust and I can see all of the posters for all of us girls. What I notice is that most of them were for Sydney.

 _Who's Sydney?_

I was enjoying the attention when the guards closed the doors to the castle. I guess we have to get to know the Prnice before we can represent his country. We are rushed over to the booths with our names on them. "Hello, you must be Analise. I am your head stylus. How would you like to present yourself?" this little man spits out as fast as possible. It takes me a few seconds to process.

"I want to stay as natural as possible, no nails and no makeup" I forcefully say to him.

He gives me a disgusted look as if I had insulted his abilities,"Wha-wha what? Fine if you say so." He rolls his eyes and whispers something to the ladies that I am guessing are my maids. They scrub me so hard, that I think they are trying to take the skin off of me.

 _Are they insulting my ability to clean myself? I need some personal space._

They strip me of all the hair on my body, except for the stuff on my head. I feel so exposed and raw. They take all the hair on my head and comb until it is silky smooth. With all the hair I have, they are able to fit it into a fashionable bun on top of my head. These people really know what they are doing because they put some foundation on me and I looked stunning even without the dress. I got to pick from the many varieties of dresses, from the sexy to the sophisticated. I chose the blue, flowy, cutoff sleeves dress. It looked a little bit more conservative than the others but I want to stick to the more sophisticated, secretive look. I hope that impresses the audience because all this is, is a television show. When everyone is done, I am the only one that didn't put on makeup and change my hair. I hope that gives me points. We line up and are filed onto stage. We sit patiently as the announcer begins. "Welcome to The Selection folks. I would like to get started with a short explanation of how this works."

Everyone claps with so much excitement. I am so nervous I want to puke.

 _Just get on with it! *screams in my head*_

"Fifteen girls are chose from the outlining provinces, unlike last year when we had thirty five contestants, for the Prince to choose from. All fifteen of these lovely young women will get the chance to date the Prince until one of them has stolen his heart. The catch is that the Prince can choose when they go home if he has no interest in them until he proposes to one in front of us all." The announcer sounds so excited all the time, it sometime can get disgusting.

Afterward he starts to go through each of us, explaining what we had on our application. I am almost too occupied with observing the people and room that I don't realize he got to me. When he says my name I do exactly what we were told to do, wave to the crowd and smile. We all get about the same applause except for this Sydney character. I wonder why she is getting all this praise. The national anthem comes on and interrupts my thoughts. This always means that the royal family is coming on the stage.

 _I guess this is the first time I get to see my Prince in person. Look confident and strong willed._

The royal family comes into the room first with King Eric and Queen Sarah, then Prince Ryan trailing behind them. He looks bored, as if this wasn't his idea. That makes me feel better, I don't have to impress anybody yet. He looks up at all of us with his shinny green eyes and smirks. I have to fight the urge to roll my eyes. Are you kidding me? I thought he would act more royal, but he is just like any other boy in my town. I won't fall for the trick yet, this might just be an act.

 _Don't judge this boy yet Ana, he just might be your way out of this mess you're in._


	6. Chapter 6

King Eric says a few words and we are ushered off of the stage once the cameras are off. We are each given a guard to lead us to our rooms upstairs. I am given Lieutenant Cassidy and by the looks of it, he isn't that friendly. I appreciate the silence he puts between us as we walk the spacious hallways. Everywhere I look there is artwork and carvings in the walls. The castle itself is one giant piece of art! My room is on the far corner of the second floor, according to my watching of doors to rooms. I don't dare ask the lieutenant because of the grouchy vibe coming off of him. We reach my room, as he opens the door, I thank him, and he acknowledges me with a nod. I walk into my room and I am shocked by how big it is. I even have my own bathroom!

 _This is what it must be like to be royalty_

I find my backpack and clothes that were taken off of me downstairs on the giant bed compared to the one at home. Right as I sit down on the gigantic bed, the three women from downstairs come through my door.

"Hello miss, I am Jane your head maid." The girl in the middle says

"Nice to meet you Jane." I say as I smile at her

She gives me a grin back, "This is Catherine and Lilly, and we would like to be of assistance." She gestures to the girls next to her.

"We have noticed that you enjoy the more conservative side of clothes, so we made you a few casual dresses to go along with your taste." Just as she says that Catherine brings in a rack of three dresses that are all beautiful. I choose the cream, slim, knee length dress. With a nod they approve of my choice and dress me. Thanks to their skilled hands they pick matching jewelry to go along with it. Then I am guided downstairs for dinner. I cannot help but stare at the huge, long dining table full of food. *rumble* I didn't realize how hungry I am until now.

 _Just think how long this took to prepare and I want to devour it all._

I head over to the seat next to Courtney and sit down. She notices that I sat by her and turns over to talk to me. "Sorry about on the plane, I shouldn't have been too stereotypical with you."

"And I shouldn't have been so rash with you, you didn't know." I say

She smiles, "Well let's start over shall we? Hello I'm Courtney"

"Hi Courtney I'm Analise but you can call me Ana" I return.

"I don't know about you but I'm hungry" Courtney says while rubbing her stomach.

I giggle "Aren't we all?"

With that all of the girls come into the dining hall and we start. The whole time I didn't realize that the Prince was inspecting each of us.

 _Slightly creepy….. Umm wow his eyes are definitely dreamy._

My thoughts are interrupted by the blonde at the end of the table choking. Everybody freaks out and chaos surrounds her. I decide to leap into action because I learned the Heimlich maneuver from a book I read. I use the thrusts and the piece of chicken comes out on the third one. Everyone is shocked at my ability as she is whisked away to the medical area they have somewhere in this place. Even the Prince looks impressed at my ability as I shrug it off and sit down again. They all eventually sit down and we begin the first meetings with the Prince. Of course I have to be the first one. I walk over to the next room with anticipation, I greet him with a curtsy. He gestures me to sit down.

"That was very impressive what you did in there a few minutes ago" His voice is defiantly lower than I expected

"It was nothing really. I learned how to do that in fifth grade, never had to try it out until now." This is very nerve racking

"You definitely have a gift, that's for sure. Let's just set this straight, I have never talked to a girl before so this is difficult." He smiles a little to brighten up the mood

"Well talking to royalty and having to be proper isn't the easiest either. Oh and I didn't mention impress you." I keep the joking tone

He lifts an eyebrow in question, "If you're trying to impress me you already have. Also, I would like to hit up a deal with you"

My heart skips a beat, I just impressed the Prince. I cannot believe my ears. "Sure what's your offer?"

"Since you need help with royal living, I can help you with that but you need to help me figure out how to act around girls." He suggests

"On one term, no one needs to know that I am helping you." I don't need to be targeted as the favorite of the Prince. That is not a great situation to be in with a giant group of girls trying to win the boy's heart.

"Deal." He agrees.


	7. Chapter 7

He guides me out of the room and I silently walk back to my seat as Courtney walks into the room with the Prince. I guess that went well, I hope I came off as helping not seductive. Having this time alone with the Prince, I hope it isn't taken the wrong way. I'm no longer hungry so I wait to be dismissed. Thank goodness it isn't long, and I head back to my room. The maids aren't there so I change into some pants and an old t-shirt that I brought with me. I lay down on the bed and close my eyes then I hear a knock at my door. "Come in!" I yell hoping they hear me.

"If you say so." Prince Ryan? I get up in surprise.

"Why are you here?" I ask

"Are you ready for your first lesson?" He looks me up and down.

I hold back the blush "I wasn't expecting it to happen right after dinner."

"Oh, well that's fine. We need to figure out when we are going to meet up and how to tell each other." He sounds disappointed.

"I can mess with the bracelet I got from the people in three, but you don't have a bracelet." I sigh.

 _This is going to be harder than I thought._

"We can wink at each other" He suggests

"Sounds great. We can try it out tomorrow, in the mean time I would like to sleep." I hint to him that I want him to leave.

"No problem, I'm leaving. See you tomorrow" *wink* he smiles and leaves.

Thank goodness he is gone, now I can get some sleep. As soon as I curl up in the covers I fall fast asleep thinking about what tomorrow would bring.

"Miss, time to wake up."

"Hmmmm." I growl, "I'm getting up."

They wash and dress me while I am half asleep. Thanks to them I actually look presentable, I just need to remember my posture and not to fall asleep. I head downstairs, in hopes to find breakfast in the dining hall. Apparently I got here early because no one is at the table, only the delicious food. I sit down and just go through what had happened yesterday in hopes that I don't fall asleep. I would need to meet up with the Prince sometime today. I find myself showing my stress and immediately stop bouncing my leg.

 _I really need to get that under control. I cannot wait till I get to meet Prince Ryan._

The room finally fills up with people and I eat in silence. I glance up to meet the Princes eyes and he winks at me. I instantly blush and look away. That was the signal! I look up and wink back to confirm the date.

 _Wait, is this a date? Do I get to be the first to go on a date with the Prince?_

We are instructed by the representative that today was our day to settle in and get used to our home for a while. I don't know what to do with myself until I learn of a library on the first floor. Walking in the hallway is like a maze, and all of the servants know it well. I ask one of the guards where the library is and all I am answered with is a point in a general direction. After a while I'm greeted by the lovely, tall bookshelves. I am always at home with books that I don't notice how long I have been in there. Thanks to the clock on the wall I've been in there for a few hours. I check out a few books to bring to my room and head back there. As I walk up the stairs I see a huge group of government officials including the King and Prince. They are all yelling at each other and don't notice me eavesdropping. After a while of politics and the unsettling thought that the castes aren't listening to government rule. Prince Ryan notices that I am listening and leaves their conversation.

"Nosy aren't you?" he says sarcastically

"It's not like you are in a counsel room or something?" I shoot back.

"Wow she can joke around, that's new. I wonder what else you can do." He adds

"Well, your majesty, this is your first lesson, never call a girl nosy. We are just very observant of our surroundings." I state with a sassy tone

"Oh, observant, I see now. So, revenge is just rightful punishment, right?" he lifts his eyebrow as to get me to respond. I decide to walk away with my books in hand, when he grabs my arm. I stop and turn to him with an annoyed expression.

"Don't call me 'Your Majesty', my name is Ryan." With those words he lets go of my arm and walked away.

 _Ryan has a nice ring to it, plus I was getting tired of calling him Prince or 'Your Majesty' anyways._


	8. Chapter 8

I just stand in the hallway stunned. Had he just touched my arm? After a while I notice how awkward I am acting and walk down to the library. As I open the door Courtney comes behind me, "Want to go to the women lounge area with me?"

I jump at the sudden friendliness of Courtney, but then I remember nobody knows that I talk to Ryan. "Why not?" I reply as I gesture for her to lead the way. I need to keep my cool attitude and I will be fine. We only need to walk a little while to get to the women lounge. The room is huge and a beautiful aqua. There are a few girls on the television sets, some are reading magazines, and others are sitting on the couches conversing with each other. I find my little paradise on the computers in the back. I spend most of the time compiling lots of articles and hoping to print them out. We never have this privilege, if any, at school and of course we don't have these things at home. We are sent up to our rooms after a few hours to get ready for our first royal living skills class. When I open the door to my room, Ryan is already there talking to my maids. They abruptly stop as I come in, "Just so that you are prepared for your first class, I thought I could help. Your maids will get you prettied up as fast as they can and then let me back in." Ryan walks out the door and my maids get to work. We are all given a ball gown for our first class and all Catherine needs to do is tidy up my hair and makeup. It takes about a half an hour, but we finish. Hoping that he hasn't left I open the door and find Ryan sitting on the floor reading a book. "You like reading?" I seem to startle him a little bit.

"Yeah but I never get time to. I guess there are pros to having to wait for a girl to get ready." He says sarcastically.

I snort at the comment and draw back because I don't know what's proper around him. He notices and says "You don't have to act all proper around me. Not unless others are watching." He gives me a genuine smile while looking around jokingly, like we are being watched.

 _I never thought he could be so comical and kind._

He takes my hand and leads me to a long corridor with lots a paintings. He lets go of my hand and makes a spectacle of him shifting a painting of a boat to the side. A dial pad is on the wall behind the painting, then he types in a combination. The wall instantaneously shows a secret door. "How did you come across this secret passageway?" I ask

"Let's just say that I needed somewhere I couldn't be controlled by my father. Plus it's cool to impress girls." *wink*

"I thought you said you have never talked to a girl before?" I guess I looked sad at that thought because he said "Come on, I was just joking. To answer your next question, yes, you are the first person I have ever shown this place to." He said while we were walking down the stairs. The door automatically shut behind us, enclosing me with the Prince of Illea.

"I figured out that your first lesson today is ballroom dancing. Hence the dressing up." He motioned to my dress.

"That makes sense, so you're going to teach me how to dance?"

"That's the plan" he says as he presses play on a CD player and the music comes on. Then he comes close to me, positions my hands on his shoulder, and takes the other one in his own hand.

"I just need to let you know I have never danced before and have bad coordination." I say with a wavering voice

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will be fine. Just follow my feet and I will guide you." Then we start moving. At the beginning I can consciously feel his hand on my back but then I listen to the music and follow wherever he guides. He is able to twirl me and we dance for a half an hour, which only seems like seconds. The music stops and I find myself wanting to dance more. "You are very good for never dancing before." Ryan says, trying to break the silence.

"Well I had a great teacher." I smiled. We walk up the stairs in silence and then Ryan says "If you ever need a place to stay, the combination is 2468. Younger me thought that was the most secret passcode ever and now I cannot change it." He adds as he leaves me to go downstairs to the ballroom. When I turn around he's gone.

 _What is this feeling so sudden and new? It's been there since I first met Ryan._


	9. Chapter 9

I go down to the ballroom alone and sit down in one of the chairs. It takes a few minutes for everybody else to come downstairs and sit down. I find myself wishing that Ryan was here, with his sarcastic comments about how the lady teaching sounds like she is swimming underwater. Once we finally finish the instructional period of our lesson, which was super boring. We all get paired up with the guards, which seem very happy about this. I happen to get Lieutenant Cassidy who is a little bit more cheerful than last time. We curtsey and the men bow. We all take our partner's hand and position our hands on their shoulder. "This your first time?" He asks.

"Not necessarily." I say trying to hold back the blush.

"Well let's see how good you can dance." He gives a little smile to lighten the mood. I feel a little bit more relieved that he isn't that grumpy as I thought he was. The instructor turns on the music and we all start dancing. Thank goodness that Ryan prepped me for this or I would have looked very stupid. All of the girls seemed to know what they were doing and that they had been dancing their whole life. Although Lieutenant Cassidy was a guard, he was very graceful on his feet. The way he danced was so mesmerizing. It was like his place was on the dance floor, I was just trying to keep up with his elegance. He was also very strong and never let me feel like I was on my own. What I couldn't help staring at was his smile. It was the biggest, brightest smile ever and it was contagious. I even started smiling too. Then we started talking to each other. "You seem to enjoy dancing." I start the conversation.

"Let's just say I have a great partner and was looking forward to this when I was told I could dance with one of you beautiful ladies." He said in his very strong but humble voice.

"You realize that we are all here for the Prince, right?" I'm a little skeptical of what he just said.

"That's not going to stop me from wanting to dance with you." He lets that resonate for a while and adds "I'm sorry if you took that the wrong way, I was just trying to compliment you on how beautiful you look today. I have a way of creeping girls out, I guess it's one of my many flaws."

"Thank you and don't worry about it I have a problem with talking to people in general." I say, trying to cheer him up. He spins me and we are told to leave our partners. I wave goodbye to him and head back over to my chair.

 _I hope that I can talk to him again. I've got to keep it discrete though._

We end the class and are told to get ready for lunch. I practically run up the stairs to my room. I want to get this dress off of me. I am greeted by my maids and Jane takes the dress off of me. I really wish to wear pants again, but I choose the least uncomfortable, long dress. I choose a sandal shoe because 'ain't nobody got time for heels'. I want to stop by the secret room on my way down to lunch so I leave early. I go down the hallway and make sure it is clear before I shift the painting to the side. I type in 2468 and it opens. Before I start going down the stairs I notice a note on the ground with my name on it. I open it up and it's from Ryan. I reads:

 _You need to be careful Ana, my father has suspicions that one of the selected is working to shut down the government. I want you to be safe so only come to this room when really needed. I am going to need to distance myself from you, not because I don't like you, but because the Prince needs to fair to all the selected. I am just letting you know beforehand so that you don't take it the wrong way. On the bright side, I would love to go on a date with you. How about tonight after dinner? I can come pick you up, just letting you know so you don't change into your old clothes again and feel embarrassed. Either way you'll look stunning._ :) _See you then,_

 _Ryan_


	10. Chapter 10

At least he let me know beforehand but I was kind of bummed that I had to talk to other people. I've had to move around a lot over the eighteen years of my life. Every place was a little different, but school was always the same. Get new classes, get bullied since you're new, and never make friends. This was always the case until I met Karla. She understood my situation and never left me alone since I first met her. I don't know what I would do without her. I felt just like I feel now, being left and leaving people behind. I've never been the social butterfly of a group. This is going to be difficult, but I am going to see if Courtney wants to do anything after dinner. I close down the room, put the painting back, and head down the stairs to Lunch. I come to the end of the stairwell and hear lots of commotion from the dining room. As I walk in the door, Courtney comes up to me and shares the news "Apparently the Prince is going to send home some girls before lunch."

"So that's what all the commotion is." I nod my head

"You aren't the least bit worried that you could go home?" She questioned me

"Yeah, I am terrified but I don't see why I would go home. I didn't do anything wrong."

"He could deem any of us not ready to be the queen. Did you know that he was watching us dance through the cameras? It's for the purpose of selecting or sending us home." She sounds terrified of the thought of being surveyed.

"He was watching? I thought they were just lessons?" I hope he didn't see how great of a time I had with lieutenant Cassidy, or what we were talking about.

"The talk's going around that they are tests and those that do the worst get sent home by the Prince."

"That's just talk, right? Nothing has been proven or found?" I get super worried. No wonder he wanted to help me.

"All I've heard is that Sydney overheard council members when she was in the ladies room. They were talking about it."

"I'm still not entirely going to believe that. She could just be trying to create rumors." I have my skepticism with this Sydney character.

"You do you" Then she walks away with a sassy sway in her hips. So much for the six that I met on the plane. She has definitely taken the royalty to the next level, while I don't like it that much.

"Can all of you wonderful ladies sit down for me please?" Ryan announces. Everyone quickly gets to their seats and He continues, "I am pretty sure all of you have heard by now, but I intend to send five girls home." Everyone gasps.

"I'm sure that all of the girls I call will find their true love and I intend to find mine too. The girls that must leave are Emma, Kayla, Mabel, Abby, and Dona." He says in an unwavering tone. The five girls that who were called, walk over to the door that they were instructed to go. Although I had never met them before I feel sympathy for them.

 _This is a contest, everybody has to lose for you to win._

We are then instructed to eat dinner until we are dismissed. I cannot help but to think of the five girls that were sent away within a day. I'm just glad that it wasn't me, to think what my parents are thinking now. Their only daughter betrayed them to become the future queen of Illea. They must be furious and wishing for me to be sent home so they can whip me into shape. They would try to pick who I would marry and what my career would be. That would be horrible and I am reminded the reason why I entered into The Selection. I decide to wink at Ryan to confirm the date tonight, he winks in response. This couldn't be too bad, I would just have to be myself. Plus I don't know how to be flirty or to bat my eyelashes and sway my hips, that's just not my style. He seems to be enjoying the real me anyway so why change, right? We are dismissed and I head up to my room when I get pulled into a hallway beside the stairs. "Shhhh" Ryan says as I glare at him. Nobody is listening anymore and I practically yell at him "Are you serious, couldn't you just sent a note or something. You're the Prince for goodness sake."

"Ok, cool down, I only wanted to talk alone."

"What is it then?" I lower my voice

"I saw that you enjoy pants and am assuming that you want to wear them, right?" He looks at me as if searching for an answer in my face.

"I would love to wear pants, but that's against the women dress code here, apparently." I roll my eyes to add effect.

"Let's just say I can get a way around that, but listen to me first." I nod in response. "So you know how we made that deal well, that was my twisted way to ask you out on a date. I didn't have enough courage to ask you straight up like probably all the guys in your home town." He looks relived to let that out.

"Well let's just say that I have never been asked out before, if that makes you feel better." I try to cheer him up and add, "Was there anything else you want to say before I get ready for our _date_?"

"I got your maids to help me get you a pair of pants. Feel free to wear them later." With that I lose my cool and hug him to thank him for the gesture. When I let go I notice a little bit of blush on his face. He pushes it off and leaves without saying anything.

 _I just made Ryan blush, score!_


	11. Chapter 11

I decide that it would be best if I head back to my room and change. I am super excited to wear pants again. I really don't care that there are some girls at the bottom the stairs giggling. I guess they got some dose of gossip they need to share with everyone. I divert my eyes hoping that they don't see me and try to creep up the stairs without being noticed. My attempt was in vain because the blonde in the group of three turned around and said, "Have you heard that one of us girls are going to go on a date with Prince Ryan tonight?" she says in a chipper tone and giggles.

"Stop it Sarah! You shouldn't just tell everyone you see." The other girl says.

"I just thought she wanted to know, Kristine. Now get off my case." Sarah snips back. They both start bickering about something when the third girl pipes in.

"Sarah, Kristine, stop. We just made a bad impression." Both girls stop and nod an apology

"This is Sarah and Kristine, they can get a little intense. I'm Molly and we would like to know if you've heard anything else." These girls are defiantly the crowd I was hoping to avoid. They live in clicks and completely fangirl over what happens to the Prince. I know that you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but these girls probably never have gotten past the cover of a book. I just cannot deal with a conversation with these type of people so, I decide to go ahead to blow this conversation.

"No, I don't know what you're talking about. Plus if he were taking a girl on a date it would probably one of you three." That ends the conversation and I add that I need to go. I slowly walk up the stairs hoping that they thought that was a genuine comment.

 _I'm never going to make friends here if I keep blowing them off._

I quickly head back to my room in order to prevent any more delays. When I open the door I see them. The lovely pair of pants on my bed. "Yes!" I whisper to myself. I close the door and strip, hoping to get into those jeans. I notice under them my maids had picked out a nice dress shirt for me to wear. It felt nice for me to be able to dress myself. I choose to take off all the makeup on my face and wear the only necklace I have. I was the one that my mother gave to me before she got remarried. I never understood the symbol on the heart but loved it anyway. I looked at myself for a second and heard a knock at the door.

 **Author's note:**

 **I need a little help from all of you that are reading my story. What do you think would be the best first date for Ryan and Ana? I am open to any comments, all you need to do is comment :)! Also, would you like to see any changes in POV?  
**


	12. Chapter 12

"Hi." I say as I open up the door. As I suspected, it was Ryan coming to get me for our date. Instead of the normal suit, he is wearing jeans and a t- shirt. Noticing me examine his clothes he says "I thought that since you would be wearing pants, I went casual." Gesturing to his clothes.

"It's defiantly a surprise to see the Prince in jeans" I say slightly sarcastically.

"So I decided that we should do something outside of our comfort zone, to get to know each other more." He said as he took my hand and walked us downstairs.

 **Prince Ryan's POV**

As we are walking down the stairs I notice just how nervous I am. I take a deep breath in and continue to lead her down the theater we have in the basement. I know that I am not the best singer but why not? Karaoke is going to make everything more casual, right?

 _Stop questioning yourself Ryan, don't be like dad._

"Are you prepared to see what's behind the curtain?" I say as she is super overwhelmed by the theater. I love that sparkle she gets in her eyes when she gets curious. Before she could answer I push back the curtains to see the karaoke machine.

"We're doing karaoke? You were right when you said this was going to be out of our comfort zones." She looks skeptical and being the showoff I always am I chose one of my favorite songs, thinking that it would make it look more fun. She looked pretty impressed when I sung 'Stressed Out' by Twenty One Pilots. I cracked a few of the notes but thank goodness it made her laugh, so all good here. I seemed to have an effect on her view of karaoke because she went up to pick a song.

"Wow the song choice you have up here is amazing." She seems intrigued.

"We get all of the most recent songs of the year and I take the liberty of choosing most of the oldies."

"I see you enjoy music a lot." She says sarcastically

"I enjoy listening to music but not singing." She nods to acknowledge what I said and chose one of the songs from the country CD. Just by the drums at the beginning of the song I can tell that she chose 'Last Name' by Carrie Underwood, such a great song.

" _Last night I got served a little bit too much of that poison baby…."_ She got the sass down to a T. Does she know that she has a really great voice? She can hit those high rifts and everything as it is nothing. Once she finishes I smile and clap.

"Stop it, I am not that good." She laughs and blushes a little.

"No you are really that good." I say as sincere as possible. The rest of the evening was so great, I learned more about her then I would have guessed. She loves reading and everything to deal with learning about ways to help people. She is probably the most compassionate person I have ever known. After a while we finish talking about what we enjoy, I decide to take her back to the room because of the way she acted around me when she was tired. I don't want her to stop being kind and open. I bring her back to her room and just after she opened the door to leave she comes close to me and kisses my cheek. That's what sends me over the edge. I feel like I am floating on clouds and I only recover after she closes the door. I must have looked stupid, just like last time when she hugged me. I have never been kissed on the cheek before. I am lost in my thoughts that I don't notice my father in the hallway back to my room.

"What are you doing out so late son?" He says in his stern voice.

"I was just participating in my own selection, if you don't mind." I tentatively back off, getting ready for the response. He nods disapprovingly and walks back down the hallway to his room. I open up the door to my room and notice that some of the items on my desk are shifted around. Father has been at it again. Searching through my stuff, hoping to make sure that I don't know about the outside world. For his sake I learn about it through diverse resources, hoping not to get caught. That's why I have that one secret hideout. Thanks to The Selection he has been off his guard and I am able to see that the Castes are not cooperatively following our rule, which includes the uprisings against last year's Selection. Unfortunately we lost the heir to the throne which made my dad the King since he was the closest know relative known to be married. That's all I know so far but, I know he is keeping things from our family.


	13. Chapter 13

I belly flop on to my bed and laugh at myself.

 _You are about as giddy as those stupid fangirls_

I just couldn't stop thinking about how he thought my singing was great. I never had sung in front of anybody before, just in the shower or alone in my room. I told Jane to take the rest of the maids and have the night. They reluctantly followed my orders and weren't going to show up anytime soon. I prepared my own bath and grabbed my backpack in order to get the old clothes that reminded me of the good times at home. _Clink!..._ What was that? I happened to pull out the package that Shane gave me before I left.

 _How could I have forgotten the gift?_

I delicately picked it up and took it over to the bed. I slowly opened it and first there was a letter.

 _Hey Ana,_

 _I'm not sure when you will open this but I decided to let you know a little bit more about father. This isn't something you want to think about at this moment. You're in the Selection for goodness sakes! By the way congrats on getting in, I didn't think you were into Prince Ryan?! You would be glad that mother and father never watched the broadcast on the TV, I only did. I need to clear things up. I really wasn't being beat up because of the art deal. Mother and father are a part of this whole revolution thing called the Down Under. Silly name, am I right? They want someone to come to power and be their pawn. I believe they might want you. I joined around your age, then I got bored because it didn't happen the way I wanted it. This is why father beats me. Keep this hidden and use it when needed. Do what you think is right and all will go well._

 _Shane_

I glanced down into the rest of the package and find a beautiful knife with a hand-carved handle. Although I didn't know how to handle a knife, Shane believed that I could do what is right. I wrapped up the package with the knife and the letter and shoved it between the dresser and the wall. Until I found a better spot that was where it was the safest. I was left to my thoughts for all of the night. They wouldn't let me sleep or get up in the morning. "Miss Ana? Time to wake so we can get you down to breakfast." I sit up and groan. "You need to start sleeping my dear, but I will do my best." Lilly hums when she does my makeup. They all make me look great, but I want to change one thing. "Jane, could I try to show off some skin? Not too much though." Jane claps her hands with excitement. "Yes, of course Miss!" She runs off to get a dress. She comes back with a black and white slimming dress. It only had straps, no sleeves.

 _Here we go!_

They let my hair flow down in curls, just to make me feel better. I need to act the sophisticated part. As I walk down the stairs I see the other girls in the ballroom. I assess the situation and go the ballroom instead of the food that's in the dinning room.*grumble* I don't know how long I can go before I go over to the dining room instead. I catch the eyes of Ryan and he looks dumbfounded. Just as soon as I saw it, it went away.

 _He's good at the prince act. Almost too good._

 **Prince Ryan's POV**

"You need to start mingling with the girls!" Father yells at me. I cringe and cower down not knowing what to do.

"S-s-sorry father, I will try to do better. I can go on two dates to make it up to you"

"Fine, but we need you to play this out and make sure you marry at the end" he then walks out of the library and calls the librarian back in, so she can check out my books. My father keeps a record of everything I do, even my emotions. I take away all of my emotion and turned back on the cheerful prince look before the librarian comes in. I get the books and hope that I can drop them off at my room before breakfast. I practically run down to the ballroom until I run into my father. He tells me he needs to make an announcement before. I told him that the least he could do was to wait for all of the girls to say what he was going to say.

 _Of course, Ana has to be the last person. Did I do anything wrong?_

The minutes seem like hours when we wait. I need to hold in the stress as I clasp my hands together, open, and back again. Then she walks down the stairs, whew. She completely took my breath away with that dress. I let my guard down…. Not again. I quickly wrap my emotions up and look at my father for further instruction. "I have needs to believe that there may be a traitor of the state in our midst" well timed pause father. He continued "We will be conducting searches off all the rooms in the castle, including all of your rooms this afternoon. I hope that you all can cooperate, that is all." He raised his hand and was escorted by guards down to the gardens.

 _He is turning these girls' lives into what I have had to go through. I hope this isn't a reoccurring thing._


	14. Chapter 14

**Prince Ryan's POV**

I hope I can ask out somebody properly, I guess they can't say no right? Since I promised my father to go out on two dates, I better do that soon. Although I hate to admit it, I am terrified of him. He could take away what bit of little freedom I have and that isn't something I am willing to give away easily. I could easily find somebody to take out but I don't want to make myself look like a dork. I can't do karaoke again or do something boring like watch a movie. I know what I want to do. After a very quiet breakfast I decide to pull over Jemma. "If I remember right, you like horseback riding."

"Well when I can in my free time." She has the greatest smile ever!

"How about you meet me in the garden in an hour?" I really don't know what I am doing. Am I sweating?

"Sure, meet you then" She turns and runs over to her friends. She definitely is having a smile attack, look at how excited she is. This might be easier than I thought.

 **Analise's POV**

I don't know what to make of the letter from Shane. Do I want to help my parents and win over Ryan's heart in order to kill him? On the other hand I could just disregard the letter and there could be consequences. My thoughts are interrupted by the laughter going on in the group of girls. I head over to the group and they welcome me into their group. "I think Prince Ryan asked me out on a date!" Jemma screams afterward to add emphasis. I crinkle my nose for a second.

 _What was that? He is allowed to date around. He warned me about this._

We have a long conversation about how the castle is the best place ever. Of course we talked about the great food too. Just so that we could get to know each other we decided to hang out in the Women's lobby or whatever it's called. I have only been here for two days and I need to make some allies. Jemma's really cool. We hit it off really easy and it's like we are friends in no time. "So you excited to go horseback riding with the prince?" I tease her

"Yeah, I hope he is everything I want in a man." She blushes

"Want to know a secret?" She nods in reply.

"I was his first date." I whisper into her ear. She seems shocked and disbelief comes over her.

"No, I thought I was." She seems a little bit heart broken.

"Nobody needs to know though. We need to keep it to ourselves, plus everyone will think you are his first date. I just didn't want to mislead you." That ended our conversation quickly and I got up and decided to roam the halls.

 _I'm jealous, aren't I? I think I lied to Jemma so that she wouldn't feel special._

I sneak back to my room and see that Lieutenant Cassidy is searching my room. I try to act cool as I come up to him. "Have you found anything in any other rooms?" I never was a good liar.

"Nothing yet. You got anything to hide?" He is either joking or serious, so I take it as a joke.

"I don't know, do I" I hope I guessed right. He then leans in and whispers into my ear, "Don't worry, I will cover for the thing behind your dresser" I mouth thank you and walk into my room as he waves goodbye. What does he have to prove in helping me? First the dance and now?


	15. Chapter 15

I find myself roaming down the hallways when I get stressed. I really need to find a hobby, all this stressing is going to give me gray hairs by the time I am twenty. As I walk around the halls I catch a glimpse of Ryan laughing with Jemma. I give them a glare, I should probably do something other than this. He has every right to date all of the girls, I need to let him without letting him see it. Without looking back I walk down to the dining hall. It's close enough to lunch that I only have to sit down for a while and wait. "Are you really that hungry?" A familiar voice comes from around the corner.

"Oh, well let's just say that this stuff is the best of the best." I grin. Lieutenant Cassidy always seemed to joke around.

"It's better than my mother's chicken casserole" He exclaimed as he added a cringe in there. I roll my eyes.

"It can't be that bad. You should try my cooking."

"Don't put yourself down like that, it just takes practice." He grins

"And some skills"

"You know what, I can turn that around. Meet me tonight in the kitchen. I can turn that sorry cook into a palace chief in no time."

"Really?" I am really skeptical about this plan. Couldn't it get us killed?

"Don't worry I know the cooks and I have that route tonight. Don't think this is a date, I am just fixing a sorry cook." He then walks out just as the two lovebirds and the rest of the girls come in after them. I try not to show that I am no longer hungry.

 **Prince Ryan's POV**

The date with Jemma was really fun. It's what happened afterward that startled me the most. I might have feelings for Jemma. I will just shove it down and hope it doesn't resurface just yet.

 _Is Ana okay?_

She isn't eating. I try to wink, but she isn't watching. If she wants to keep her distance, I can accept that. Although my heart is telling me otherwise. I need to keep this in check or father will notice. This might get a little more serious than last time. Mother isn't up to stopping him this time, especially because of what he said to her last time.


End file.
